President Donald Trump has already lent his name to real estate projects, hotels, golf courses and even a meme coin. Now, the president has given his name to a federal prescription drug platform: TrumpRx.
Officially launched on Feb. 5, the drug-pricing website allows consumers to search for prescription drugs and then purchase them elsewhere, purportedly at a discount. But while the White House has promised the site will “instantly deliver prescription drugs at ‘the lowest price anywhere in the world,’” drug policy experts say the “jury is still out on whether the platform will provide the significant savings Trump promises,” especially given that a number of similar platforms already exist, said the Los Angeles Times.
How will TrumpRx work?
Put simply, TrumpRx is designed to “help uninsured Americans find discounted prices for high-cost, brand-name prescriptions, including fertility, obesity and diabetes treatments,” said the LA Times.
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Rather than selling drugs directly, the website will allow consumers to search for their prescriptions, find prescription savings if available and then go to their pharmacy with a provided coupon or get directed to a manufacturer’s direct-to-consumer website to purchase the drug at a discount. While things may shift in the future, “at least initially, people would not be able to use their insurance through TrumpRx, though it directs people to some manufacturer sites that allow patients to use their coverage,” said The New York Times.
As of the site’s launch, TrumpRx offers 43 medications, “including well-known and widely used products like insulin; inhalers; the popular weight-loss drugs, Wegovy and Zepbound; and a copycat version of Humira, used for conditions like arthritis,” said the Times. The Trump administration says more drugs will be added in the future.
Who can benefit from TrumpRx?
TrumpRx is “primarily for people who are buying out-of-pocket without insurance,” said NerdWallet. People who are insured privately, rather than paying cash, generally will not see as much benefit, although there are “cases when discounts could reduce costs — for example, when a newer, specialty name brand drug isn’t covered or easily approved by insurance,” said the outlet.
Meanwhile, people who are covered by Medicaid are “unlikely to benefit since nearly all prescription drugs are covered with little or no copay,” said NerdWallet.
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Will TrumpRx offer meaningful savings?
It is “unlikely that many consumers will save money by using TrumpRx,” given that “nearly all of the drugs on the site are already widely covered through insurance, and some are available as inexpensive generics from competing manufacturers,” said the Times.
Further, many of the discounts that TrumpRx does offer are already available through comparable websites, such as the online pharmacy GoodRx. For example, “Pfizer’s Duavee menopause treatment is listed at $30.30 on TrumpRx, but it is also available for the same price at some pharmacies via GoodRx,” said the LA Times. In another example, “weight management drug Wegovy starts at $199 on TrumpRx” — a price at which “manufacturers were already selling.”
Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.
